Marlon Byrd

Indians outfielder Marlon Byrd was officially slapped with a 162-game suspension after testing positive for a performance enhancing substance, as Vince Grzegorek of Cleveland Scene first reported on Twitter. Byrd had previously been hit with a 50-game ban, meaning he was a second-time offender for purposes of the league’s more punitive current PED regime.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports noted via Twitter that Byrd chose not to appeal. The veteran has released a statement disclaiming fault, as has his attorney, both via Rosenthal (here and here). They suggest that a tainted supplement is to blame for the growth hormone secretagogue Ipamorelin that was found in Byrd’s system. Given his age and history, it’s fair to wonder whether this is the end of the line for the veteran, who has seen action in fifteen major league seasons.

Cleveland added the 38-year-old on a minor league deal to shore up an outfield that had several question marks — due, in part, to the PED suspension of presumptive center fielder Abraham Almonte. His own 80-game ban will finish up early next month.

Byrd had performed as hoped, posting a .270/.326/.452 slash with five home runs over 129 plate appearances. As usual, he’s done most of his damage against left-handed pitching. With his glovework in the corner outfield rating as at least average by measure of both UZR and DRS, and solid baserunning valuations added in, he’s been a sturdy contributor at the bargain rate of a $1MM annual salary.

Unfortunately for Cleveland, that wasn’t meant to last. With Almonte and Michael Brantley still out of action, the Indians are left with an outfield of Jose Ramirez, Rajai Davis, and Lonnie Chisenhall. All three have been rather productive this year, though it may be a lot to ask of that trio to make up an everyday unit.

Looking forward, the intriguing question is whether the loss of Byrd will add any motivation for a more dramatic move. Highly-rated prospects Bradley Zimmer and Clint Frazier are both raking at the Double-A level; while it’s unclear whether either would be considered in the near term, they could factor in down the line. Otherwise, it’s fair to wonder whether Cleveland will entertain an outside addition. The club can take its time assessing its needs and canvassing the market, but a significant strike can’t be ruled out with the division up for grabs.

The White Sox have lost 14 of their last 18 games, including a nightmarish weekend sweep to the Royals that saw Chicago blow late-inning leads in all three games. Saturday’s result was the most crushing of all, as the White Sox held a 7-1 lead with one out in the ninth before allowing seven runs to lose 8-7. The sweep also pushed the Royals into first place in the AL Central. Here’s more from around the division…

Phil Hughes is being moved to the Twins bullpen, manager Paul Molitor told reporters (including MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger). Kyle Gibson will replace Hughes in Minnesota’s rotation. Hughes allowed a league-high 29 homers in 2015 and has struggled to a 4.74 ERA over 208 2/3 innings since the start of last season. Unless he can regain his form while relieving and eventually get back to the rotation, the Twins will face further scrutiny over signing Hughes to an extension following his excellent 2014 season, the first year of a three-year/$24MM contract. The Twins overwrote the final two years of that deal for a new extension that guaranteed Hughes $58MM from 2015-19.

Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer notes that since the start of the 2013 season, Justin Upton and Marlon Byrd have posted more similar counting stats than one might think. Upton is the better player overall (as seen through an fWAR comparison) and is a decade younger, though Pluto’s point is that the Indians are getting a bargain after signing Byrd to a minor league deal worth a $1MM guarantee plus incentives. The veteran is outperforming Upton, who has been a sub-replacement player in his first two months with the Tigers.

Dave Dombrowski is happy to have “a championship type of guy” like Eduardo Rodriguez on the Red Sox roster, but the southpaw was a trade roadblock back when Dombrowski was the Tigers’ general manager. As Dombrowski tells Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald, Detroit was eager to acquire Andrew Miller from the Red Sox at the 2014 trade deadline and Dombrowski felt a deal was imminent after the Tigers agreed to give then-Sox GM Ben Cherington the two players he was seeking. Cherington had to make one more call, however, which led to Miller being dealt to the Orioles for Rodriguez. “They didn’t say we had a deal but you thought you had a deal,” Dombrowski said. “There is a difference between the two….It’s ironic how it worked out because I’m the benefactor of it. Really when they got Eduardo Rodriguez, he was better than the guys we were offering. So I understood it.”

Former White Sox first baseman Adam LaRoche, who retired amidst a storm of controversy in Spring Training, has an outlook different than that of most ballplayers, ESPN’s Tim Keown writes. Now that LaRoche has stepped away from his big-league career after a disagreement with his front office about the presence of his son in his team’s clubhouse, he’s planning a lengthy RV trip with his family to the Pacific Northwest. LaRoche also stars in a reality show (Buck Commander) and owns a meat company. And improbably, in November, he joined with Brewers pitcher Blaine Boyer and a nonprofit to try to travel to Southeast Asia to go undercover to try to save underage sex slaves. “Something huge happened there for us,” says Boyer. “You can’t explain it. Can’t put your finger on it. If you make a wrong move, you’re getting tossed off a building.” Here’s more from the American League.

Michael Brantley (shoulder) and Lonnie Chisenhall (wrist) have begun rehab assignments with Triple-A Columbus, so the composition of the Indians’ outfield seems likely to change soon, Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes writes. Part of the issue, in Brantley’s case, is that he missed most of Spring Training, so he needs to get enough repetitions in his rehab assignment so that he can be ready to play. “With Michael it’s about him building enough volume and feeling comfortable at the plate,” says Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti The Indians’ roster currently includes four outfielders — Marlon Byrd, Collin Cowgill, Rajai Davis and Tyler Naquin. Of those, only Naquin is optionable. The 38-year-old Byrd, interestingly, shares that no teams showed interest in him before the Indians signed him to a minor-league deal in mid-March. “There was no interest … zero,” he says. “I would have to ask the 29 other teams what the reason was.”

Veteran outfielder David Murphy does not plan to retire and is looking for an MLB job, the MLB Network’s Jon Morosi tweets. Murphy had opted out of his deal with the Red Sox in Spring Training. He had previously said he might retire if he did not get a big-league job.

There are some more contractual matters to run down for players who made rosters on minor league deals. These all come courtesy of Jon Heyman of MLB Network, and all links are to Heyman’s Twitter account.

Outfielder Jeff Francoeur is set to earn $1MM with the Braves after cracking the team’s Opening Day roster. He can also add another million via incentives in his contract. Francoeur received a hero’s welcome at Turner Field on Monday for his return to the organization with which he entered the league with much fanfare. At this stage, of course, the veteran is likely to serve as a fourth outfielder and bench bat.

Under the contract he originally signed with the Pirates — which the Braves acquired in a late-spring trade — lefty Eric O’Flahertywill earn a $1.75MM base salary and can add to that via unspecified incentives. O’Flaherty had eight strikeouts against just two walks in his 9 2/3 innings of spring action with Pittsburgh, but also allowed 15 hits and eight runs (though only three were earned). Of course, like Francoeur, he’s a former Atlanta standout who’s coming home in 2016.

Braves right-hander Alexi Ogandois in line for $2MM this year after he earned a pen job. He’ll also have the chance to tack on another $1.5MM if he can reach unreported milestones. (Previous reporting had suggested Ogando could only earn $1MM extra.) Ogando is looking for a bounceback after advanced metrics suggested he was actually rather fortunate to post a 3.99 ERA last year.

If and when he is called up to the Padres, veteran righty Jeremy Guthrie will pitch at a $1.25MM rate. Guthrie, who’ll turn 37 on Friday, joined on with San Diego after he failed to make the Rangers and opted out of his deal. Despite a rough 2015, Guthrie has a solid track record of delivering innings at the back of the rotation, and figures to have a shot at making some more MLB starts if and when a need arises.

Indians righty Joba Chamberlain will not only play at a $1MM base salary, but can earn up to $2MM via incentives. Chamberlain, 30, was a somewhat surprising choice to make the Cleveland pen after he allowed seven walks in his ten spring innings, though he did strike out eight while allowing only three earned runs. He was already coming off of a subpar campaign the season prior, though some advanced metrics (in particular, SIERA) viewed him as a still-useful pitcher and he did have a strong 2014 under his belt.

Finally, in addition to his previously-reported $1MM salary, Marlon Byrd can earn up to $2.5MM in incentives with the Indians. But he has agreed to an advanced consent clause that would allow Cleveland to dodge the bulk of its potential obligations if it cuts him loose within the contractually-specified number of days of Opening Day (the maximum advanced-consent length is 45 days, but it remains unreported in this case). Byrd could play an important role in the Indians’ outfield mix, as he has continued to mash left-handed pitching, but he’ll likely function in a platoon role.

As Opening Day approaches, teams will be making tough roster decisions involving their veteran players. Some of these decisions pertain to Article XX(B) free agents who have their opt-out date on Tuesday, though other players have opt-outs today or later this week. We’ll keep track of the players who make the big league roster cut here:

The Indiansannounced that veteran outfielder Marlon Byrd has made the team. The move guarantees Byrd $1MM in base salary. Byrd signed his minor league deal with Cleveland just last week, and his addition will add some power (especially against left-handed pitching) to the Tribe’s unsettled outfield situation.

The Nationals will put right-hander Matt Belisle on the 25-man roster, manager Dusty Baker told MLB.com’s William Ladson. Though Belisle was an Article XX(B) player, his opt-out date was actually yesterday. Making the Nats roster will earn Belisle a $1.25MM base salary in 2016, as per the terms of the minor league deal he signed with Washington last month.

The Indians have little time to evaluate Marlon Byrd and make final roster decisions, as Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal writes. Manager Terry Francona acknowledged the dilemma of making a call after a brief look at the late-to-sign veteran. “It’s not like we need to see him hit a home run,” said Francona. “This is going to be a hard one. I think we’re balancing not trying to do too much, too quick. … Because it’s going to be hard unless something jumps out one way or another.” As Lewis notes, the organization does have some flexibility since it can retain some of the competitors for outfield jobs — including Joey Butler, Collin Cowgill, and Tyler Naquin — via options. Will Venableis also in the hunt for a role, per the report, while Robbie Grossman and Shane Robinson appear to be “outside contenders” at this point.

Here’s more from the central divisions:

Twins righty Alex Meyer will return to the rotation to open the 2016 season, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger reports. The former top-50 leaguewide prospect shifted to the pen last year after a disastrous beginning to the season, with up-and-down results. Meyer has a long way to go to restore his prospect sheen, but it seems he’ll at least have a chance to harness his big arm as a starter.

Trevor Rosenthal of the Cardinals, meanwhile, has established himself as one of the game’s best relievers, but still hopes to have a chance to return at some point to the rotation, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. Rosenthal mostly pitched as a starter in the brief time he spent in the minors, but has operated exclusively in relief at the major league level. Though he didn’t take issue with his 9th-inning role, Rosenthal said he “would definitely like to have [a starting] opportunity,” preferably “sooner rather than later.” Of course, his role is highly unlikely to change this spring or over the season to come, and it remains to be seen whether the organization will be willing to tinker next spring. Rosenthal’s work as a closer has already earned him a $5.6MM payday in his first of three years of arbitration.

Infielder Yadiel Rivera has impressed the Brewers this spring, but finds himself in a tough spot in the organization’s hierarchy, as Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports. The 23-year-old is behind Jonathan Villar in the pecking order at the major league level, with the heralded Orlando Arcia rising quickly as well. But there’s little question that a rebuilding Milwaukee organization will find some way to give Rivera a chance if his added strength and confidence show up in the results; indeed, none of the club’s likely starting infielders appear to have a stranglehold on their jobs heading into the season.

White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf issued an official statement regarding the Adam LaRocheretirement controversy, noting that this will be the last public discussion of the matter by any White Sox employee. Reinsdorf expressed his respect for LaRoche and his full confidence in the White Sox management team. “I do not believe there is anyone to directly blame in this situation. While there is no doubt this might have been handled differently, the fact remains that this is an internal matter that we have discussed and now resolved,” Reinsdorf said, also noting that he felt “much of this was a result of miscommunication and misunderstanding rather than this being a case of anyone not telling the truth.”

Marlon Byrd’s minor league contract with the Indians has up to $2.5MM available in incentives, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian reports (Twitter link). The veteran outfielder will earn a base salary of $1MM if he makes the Tribe’s big league roster.

Ross Ohlendorf can opt out of his minor league deal with the Royals today, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star reports. If the team wants to keep the veteran righty, it will have to put him on the 40-man roster. Ohlendorf posted good results in 19 1/3 innings of the Rangers bullpen last season, though his path to a similar role in K.C. could be difficult given the number of other good arms in the Royals’ relief corps.

“It’s a possibility” that Victor Martinez may not be ready for Opening Day, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus told reporters (including MLB.com’s Cash Kruth). Martinez hasn’t appeared in a game since straining his left hamstring on Monday. Ausmus said the veteran slugger could swing a bat tomorrow for the first time since the injury, though “we’ve got to wait and see.”

As David Ortiz enters his final season, the Twins’ infamous decision to release the slugger in 2002 is revisited by Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Twins GM Terry Ryan took responsibility for the release, calling it “a very bad baseball decision. We thought we had better options. We were wrong in a big way.” Ortiz is still dismayed about his treatment with the Twins organization, noting that the focus always seemed to be on his shortcomings rather than the positives he could bring in the form of his power bat.

7:45pm: Byrd has passed his physical, Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer tweets. He’ll earn $1MM if he cracks the major league roster. The contract also includes some incentives, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com adds on Twitter.

11:04am: The Indians and outfielder Marlon Byrd have agreed to a minor league contract, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The 38-year-old Byrd, who split last season between the Reds and Giants, is represented by ACES.

Byrd will add to a growing mix of outfield options for the Indians, who figure to open the season without Michael Brantley (at least for a couple of weeks) and are otherwise relying on a mix of Tyler Naquin, Rajai Davis, Lonnie Chisenhall and Collin Cowgill in addition to fellow non-roster invitees Will Venable, Robbie Grossman and Shane Robinson. On paper, Byrd would bring the most offensive upside of the bunch to serve as a platoon partner for the left-handed-hitting Chisenhall, who thrived in the outfield last year but has longstanding difficulty against left-handed pitching at the plate. Byrd has long been a thorn in the side of southpaw pitchers, and he continued that trend in 2015, hitting .271/.324/.496 against lefties.

Though Byrd was quite productive following an August trade to the Giants, his tenure in San Francisco ended with some degree of controversy. Playing in the final season of a two-year, $16MM contract last in 2015, Byrd needed to reach a total 550 plate appearances for an $8MM vesting option to trigger. Over the final few games of the season, the Giants relegated Byrd to the bench in favor of young outfielders Jarrett Parker and Mac Williamson. As GM Bobby Evans explained at the time, the club planned to play Byrd on an everyday basis up until the club was mathematically eliminated from the postseason. If and when that occurred, the team would shift focus and use the remainder of the year to evaluate future options such as Parker and Williamson. Unfortunately, due to the length of time for which the Giants staved off elimination, that meant that Byrd ultimately fell just six plate appearances shy of having his option vest.

Now with the Indians, Byrd will hope to make the club and approximate the solid overall production he’s posted since a career renaissance with the Mets and Pirates in 2013. Since that rebound campaign, Byrd has batted a collective .268/.313/.469. Over the life of a 14-season career in the Majors, his cumulative batting line sits at .275/.329/.430 in nearly 6,000 plate appearances.

John Henry’s recent comments about how the Red Sox have “perhaps overly relied on numbers” in recent years and became too focused on analytics drew quite a bit of reaction from around baseball, the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo writes. MLB Network’s Brian Kenny believes “the enemy of the Red Sox is impatience, not analytics,” noting that properly analyzing the numbers could’ve told Boston that Jackie Bradley or Rusney Castillo wouldn’t be stars overnight, or that Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval were risky signings. On the other hand, some scouts praised the Sox for their apparent turn to traditional evaluation over sabermetrics. The Red Sox have been at the forefront of the analytics movement over the last 15 years, so if they succeed in this new direction, Cafardo wonders if other teams could follow suit. Here’s more from Cafardo’s latest column…

Cafardo points to one notable victory for scouting over analytics from 2011, when the Rays’ then-top scout convinced Andrew Friedman to obtain Chris Archer as part of the eight-player blockbuster that sent Matt Garza to the Cubs. The scout was sold on Archer, while Friedman’s analytics evaluation were pointing him towards righty Chris Carpenter, who ended up pitching only 15 2/3 innings at the MLB level.

There’s still “a lot of interest” in Jorge Soler on the trade market, which is an option for the Cubs as they sort out their crowded outfield. With Dexter Fowler rather unexpectedly returning to Chicago, the Cubs have Jason Heyward playing every day in right (or sometimes center) and then Fowler, Soler, Kyle Schwarber and possibly minor league signee Shane Victorino all juggling for playing time, plus Ben Zobrist and Javier Baez also capable of playing left.

The Brewers are still considering a Jonathan Lucroy trade, as “there’s still buzz in the scouting community” that a deal could come in Spring Training. Lucroy would have to prove himself healthy in the wake of a 2015 season shortened by a concussion and a fractured toe. If he looks good in Cactus League action, that could be enough for another team to pull the trigger on a deal.

It’s been a quiet offseason for Marlon Byrd rumors, as Cafardo notes that the veteran outfielder “isn’t getting much love on the market.” Interest in Byrd could pick up as teams sort through their roster options, however, and Cafardo lists the Angels, Blue Jays and Orioles as speculative fits. Byrd had 24 homers and an .847 OPS as recently as the 2013 season, but while he’s still managed to hit for power (48 homers) over the last two years, the 38-year-old’s batting average and OBP have fallen off considerably.

With Chris Davis off the board, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post looks at the market for outfielder Yoenis Cespedes. While Davidoff runs through five of Cespedes’ top suitors, he ultimately concludes that none of them are a perfect fit to offer Cespedes his asking price. Budget or an unwillingness to spend on a right-handed outfielder are barriers with most of the obvious matches. The Tigers are a reasonable dark horse candidate for Cespedes (or Justin Upton) due to owner Mike Illich’s penchant for surprise blockbusters. With his market seemingly growing stale, I wonder if a team like the Phillies could be baited into a bid. They have the money and wouldn’t have to surrender a draft pick to sign him. Preposterous? Probably.

The 2016-2017 free agent pool is thin in the outfield, making a one-year deal a viable option for Cespedes and Upton, writes AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. Carlos Gomez and Jose Bautista are the top names available, although either player could be re-signed. After the top pair, the market thins out dramatically. Re-entering the market strikes me as an unnecessary risk for Cespedes and Upton. Both players had strong, healthy platform seasons. Cespedes in particular stands to lose out if he’s impatient. He isn’t tied to a qualifying offer, and it’s hard to imagine him improving upon a 6.7 WAR season.

The Rockies have three obvious issues, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. The outfield is crowded by the addition of Gerardo Parra. The club seemingly would like to trade one or more of Carlos Gonzalez, Charlie Blackmon, and Corey Dickerson, presumably to solve their second problem – a lack of pitching depth and talent. The players themselves ask if Saunders if the Rockies will acquire pitching. So far, they’ve sat out the free agent market. The Rays are the most obvious sellers in the trade market. Last but not least, Jose Reyes’ future with the club is completely uncertain. He played poorly after joining the Rockies and currently faces criminal charges and possible jail time in relation to domestic abuse charges. He’s also a suspension candidate under the league’s new domestic violence policy.